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| Tales from the Woods |
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| 04-10-2006 |
 Going nowhere but at least I was fast |
Damn
weather keeps me inside. I wanted to go out for a quick 1h offroad ride
or even a 2h road spin, but the rain decided otherwise.
So I
stayed in and spend an hour on the rollers.. a bit boring but I got a
good workout, warming up reading the latest Mountainbike Plus magazine
for about half an hour and then riding just under my aerobic treshold
for another 30 minutes. My legs felt good. I hope the weather stays dry
tomorrow so I can get a road ride in.
04-10-2006, 20:02 geschreven door Big Bad Wolf
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| 01-10-2006 |
| Mazy |
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The Ride
So
I decided to go to Mazy and ride the 5th 'Vallee de l'Orneau' organised ride. After last nights' thunderstorm I wasn't sure
if Braine would've been spared (it wasn't ) , and since I hadn't been
in Mazy for a while and I knew that organized ride was bound to be less
crowded , I made a last minute decision to ride there.
Had
a bit of trouble finding Mazy ( I really need to get out my map sooner
instead of just riding along in the wrong direction ) but I
arrived around 11am and found some parking space very close to the
start. The first riders were already back at the start and I heard some
complaints about the last 10K being a lot of tarmac.. Oh great.. :(
But
then I had been here before, for the "Randonnée des 5 Chateaux" ,
a classic ride passing - you would never have guessed - along 5 of the
areas' very beautiful castles. I also did the "Sauvenieroise" , another
race starting in not-so-far-away Sauveniere and I knew I would be hard
pressed to get a Hill Factor of more than 10 out of this ride.
Payed
5 at the start and soon enough I was on my bike and ready to go.. All
of a sudden someone comes riding up next to me and I am pleasantly
surprised to see an old friend. Someone I was in the LCMT with a couple
of years ago.
Also a titanium freak we take some time checking out each others'
Litespeeds while he also informs me the last 15K are rather flat and
dull.. Great x 2 .. :(
On
my way then and there are some nice tracks straight away. No rain here
so most of the trail is dry and bone-hard. The Orneau is a small river
we will see quite a few times. The offroad sections near that river -
and the trails descending towards it or climbing away from it - are
really nice. Pity that there is also a lot of tarmac, or dull
fieldtracks, to get from one nice trail to the other. I more or
less ride together with a guy with a Cannondale Rush and I am amazed at
his ability to really make speed on the heavy pothole-ridden field
tracks. He can remain seated and really put down the hammer while I
have to get up from time to time to avoid being hammered in my back.
This is the kind of ride that makes even the most ardent hardtail freak
long for a full suspension bike. I really have to look at that Titus Racer-X I have been thinking about for a while now.
On
the uphills I have the advantage though, due to my lighter bike I can
power away from him. So we kept on passing each other during the entire
ride. As was being mentioned, the last 10K or so was on the plateau,
and the wind was blowing fiercely in our faces to even make it more
tough. Only one last quick descent towards Mazy and we are back at the
start, only 2h35 after I left.
As was to be expected, after 54K there are only 590 heightmeters on my Polar (Hill Factor of 10.9 ) .
Still there were some really nice sections and I am not alltogether unhappy I chose this ride.
The Lowdown
What I liked:
- 2 well stocked rest stops, spread evenly along the ride, friendly people.
- arrowing was sufficient, white background plaques with red tip indicating direction, some chalk and arrows on tarmac.
- some nice sections along the river and at least one great downhill just before the 2nd rest stop
- police at busy roads stopping traffic , making crossing these roads very easy and safe
What I didn't like:
- long tarmac sections or dull field tracks between the more interesting sections
- no discount for licencies.
- could have used some more offroad sections near the end. Looks like they concentrated on distance, not on content.
Synopsis
The area has potential, but between the interesting sections, and there really
were some very nice tracks around, there is too much tarmac or field
roads to really make this ride (or this region) stand out. The
Randonnee des 5 Chateaux is better but they get permission to pass on
privately owned trails, something the organisers of this ride did NOT
get. Also note that this region is to be avoided after heavy rainfall ,
the dull field tracks then becoming sticky with mud.
The bare facts
I have uploaded the ride's profile HERE
and you can find a map of the 52K distance HERE
01-10-2006, 16:28 geschreven door Big Bad Wolf
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| 27-09-2006 |
| Moots Dash |
Quick
dash with the Moots in Meerdael Forest , more or less following the Red
Bloso. Here and there I followed a little deviation, mostly hilly and
singletracky to add some spice to the route.
I had to hurry to get out of the forest before dusk and mist rolled in.
Just 24K and 230 heightmeters gave me enough opportunity to work off the stress of a bad hair day at work.
Meanwhile, the weather forecast for this weekend isn't making me very happy either, possibly rain on Saturday..
Still, another 2 days to go so things can change
27-09-2006, 19:29 geschreven door Big Bad Wolf
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| 25-09-2006 |
| Thorny Hedges |
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Plans for next weekend:
On Sunday October 1st , there is an interesting ride in Aubel , as part of the Gileppe Hautes Fagnes challenge.
| WHERE |
DISTANCES |
START |
CONTACT |
PRICE |
| Aubel (Lui) |
8.5-15-25-35-45K |
8.00-12.00am |
GHF 087/686989 |
3-5 |
The Aubel area is characterized by its thorny hedges, so I will take enough spare tyres and a good pump with me.
The area is not as hilly as Theux but I should envision a hill factor close to 20 nevertheless.
Climbs will be shorter and less steep .
Also, not as much rocks and stuff..more meadows and some forest areas
but mostly open areas.
Talking of Theux: since I suffer from a severe case of Theux addiction I am planning to go to the region again
next saturday (september 30) to do a combination of the Green and Blue Route..
I did this combo last week but this time I won't go into the Ninglinspo area this time
Tentative shedule:
leave at the Chateau de Franchimont at 10am
45-50K ride (with 1100 heightmeters at least) should take about 3-4 hours
Lots will depend on how the weather holds.
25-09-2006, 20:25 geschreven door Big Bad Wolf
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| 20-09-2006 |
| My Kingdom for a BLOSO arrow .. |
Today saw me riding the Moots around the Blue and Red BLOSO routes of Meerdael. I wanted to do an easy ride in view of tomorrows' tough one and the BLOSO routes provide just that.
The ride went well, I had 39.8K and 405 heightmeters with an average heartrate of 118bpm. Piece of cake .
It's the second time this week I take out the Moots because I have not ridden it as much as other years . I usually get around a 1000K out of it each year but this year has seen me a lot on the Litespeed and the Hilset, and less on the Moots. It's probably due to the bad weather last August (I only ride the Moots when it's dry - I haven't had to wash it in the 3 years I have it) but September is turning out to be a real dry and warm month so we'll get there.
Was a bit pissed to see that after more than 2 months, there are still at least two arrows missing on the Red Loop. I'm gonna email the Sports Representative (SR) of Oud-Heverlee later on and tell him exactly what is on my mind.
The BLOSO routes are meant to be checked at least once a month by a so-called "Parent" . The Meerdael BLOSO has 2 of those Parents but since the beginning it was obvious that they were not doing there job.
That coupled with the fact that they don't answer (or even read ?) their emails doesn't make it very easy for the users of the routes to report missing arrows , other fallen trees and such..
Normally, the Parents gather the complaints , bring these to the SR, who in turn alerts the BLOSO community. The BLOSO then takes the necessary steps to return the route to its original condition.
I don't know where the trouble lies in this "chain of events" , but in Overijse for example (where I know the "Parent" personally ) I usually see that when an arrow is reported missing, it is replaced within a fortnight, sometimes even within the week !
Well as I said, I wil email the SR , with the elections coming up in less than a month, they tend to listen a bit more to their citizens.
And now it's time to relax a bit and watch the time trial events of the World Championships in Salzburg
20-09-2006, 15:07 geschreven door Big Bad Wolf
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| 19-09-2006 |
| Brooding on my next ride |
So, I decided to create a Blog.. Why ? It's easier to be able to communicate some stuff without having to email around.
For the moment , I'm pretty excited to go back to Theux again. For those not familiar with what I do and what Theux means in that respect, check out these links :
http://redridinghood.fotopic.net/c1082029.html
and
http://redridinghood.fotopic.net/c1077328.html
I want to go back, and plan to do so on thursday, to check out the combination of the 18K and 37K routes. Starting out from the Chateau Franchimont again I would first choose the 18K route (route Nr 7) climbing into the Bois de Staneu and descending towards the little Ry de Chawion. There I would hop over on the 37K route (route Nr 8) and follow this one further on
At the furthest western point I would like to briefly hop on the 57K route (route Nr 9) to reach the Porallée area.
Why?
Well, I would like to descent from the Porallée area towards Noncevaux (260m drop ) and climb back up again following the Ninglinspo river. This area is one of the most beautiful in Belgium. Google it to find out more .
This would yield a 50K ride with well over 1100 heightmeters. More than enough to keep me busy for 4 hours or thereabouts. I hope to be able to get some nice shots too of the area.
A little plan of the Ningslinspo area and the route I want to follow can be seen by clicking HERE
19-09-2006, 00:00 geschreven door Big Bad Wolf
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